


After Rain

by HowlingHooves



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Realizations, Saren isn't a mean guy, Song Inspired, back home to Boulder CO, quiet moments
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-14
Updated: 2017-07-14
Packaged: 2018-12-02 00:12:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11497725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HowlingHooves/pseuds/HowlingHooves
Summary: Saren takes Shepard back home after theyve been throwing themselves into their work. She just endured some heartache she's still recovering from, but piecing herself together again without too much trouble. But Saren surprises her, regardless, and she's grateful he's there.





	After Rain

**Author's Note:**

> I've been pretty absent lately, sorry guys. Muse has been pretty non existent, and I've been more on a SarenxShep kick, too. I've come to adore my portrayals of the pair. c;
> 
> After Rain, by Dermot Kennedy, was my inspiration for this small piece.
> 
> Enjoy.

They had come back, much to her surprise. After the weeks of missions, the months of fighting mercs and infiltrating and all around subterfuge, Saren had decided to take a break. And return to Earth. Return to Colorado, even. To Boulder, a city she hadn't thought of for so long. To a place she had called home for half of her life.

Watching him from where she stood, sitting in the soft grass beneath an old, rough barked tree, Shepard smiled to herself. She hadn't realized that this was needed, a break from the fighting and protecting and infiltrating and cloak and dagger, a vacation where nothing mattered and no one needed her. Or him, either. Shepard hadn't seen that she was burning at both ends, that she would have likely met her end if she had kept going as she had been next to him.

Exhaustion wasn't a new feeling, but here… under the tree and watching Saren as he watched the scenery in the warm sunlight, Shepard could feel the weight on her easily. Yet, staring at the Turian as he enjoyed the sounds of nature around them, she felt more than tired, more than stressed or frustrated. Shepard felt peace. From the heartache that had truly led up to his taking them here, Shepard felt just a bit less of it grinding her heart against asphalt.

Shepard knew he thought of her as a sort of light in his darkness, he had told her as much months ago after she had nearly died. But until now, she hadn't recognized that he was a light for her, too. Sure, Shepard loved him but not because he was a considerate creature. She had never seen him act such before, at least not openly. Small things, minuscule things that just made the day bearable if she was overwhelmed, but nothing like this.

“Is there a reason you keep staring at me?” Saren asked, making Shepard’s soft smile grow just a bit larger as she shook her head. She noticed he didn't look toward her, but hummed regardless; either he knew her too well, or he had eyes in the back of his head. Or maybe both, considering who Saren was.

But then a thought did come to her, as she watched him still. “You don't need to worry about being alone, Saren.” Shepard told him, voice soft, gentle.

He did turn around at that, looking at her oddly. He clearly wasn't sure where that had come from, his mandibles fluttering inquisitively. Shepard shook her head as her eyes watered, though she smiled widely at him despite it. “Just promise me you won't stop, okay?” She asked him, wiping at her eyes as she took a deep breath through her nose.

Saren approached and joined her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders before gently pulling her into his side. “I'm not sure what you're referring to, but alright, Shepard.”

She hummed quietly as she leaned her head against his carapace, placing a hand on his leg and squeezing. Inhaling, she closed her eyes as she committed what she could to memory; him, the smell of warm grass and sunlight, the summer breeze bringing honeysuckles to her nose… the warmth of him, the coolness of the shade, the rough bark at her back and the soft grass under her. “Shepard, are you alright?”

His question was concerned, voice tight and sub vocals rumbling through their contact in a way she couldn't be sure of. “Yeah, I am. Just needed this, and I hadn't realized it.”

That seemed to calm him, and he hummed lowly as his arm around her tightened. Saren settled his chin atop her head, uncaring for the weight of him and making her chuckle. Her hand moved to his, gripping tightly before she pulled it to her lips, kissing his palm softly as she smiled. “You're my light too, Saren.”


End file.
